crikets always die

[pogona050897]

What can I do to keep my crickets alive longer? They always seem 2 die overnight, which is very frustrating! She cannot eat all of them in one day?

 

[punkrockprincess]

What are you keeping them in?
Are you offering them cricket food and cricket water?
I found out the amount that died went down drastically once I switched to the biggest Cricket Keeper I could find only put the max amount of crickets it suggested in (I still cheat and put in 200 instead of 150 from time to time though). Crickets don't seem like they have space issues but they become stressed and die off if too many are kept together.

 

[pogona050897]

I keep them in a ten gallon tank, I recently ran out of cricket water, so I give them moist potatoes for now so they can get their water, I bought cricket food online that is just like powdery stuff. I keep like 4-5 dozen in at the same time.

 

[punkrockprincess]

Is there cardboard in there? And how many do you have die per a day? Even with the best care a few will always die a day.

 

[pogona050897]

Yes, I keep cardboard in there, toilet paper rolls, and usually about half of them die over the first night I have them and the other half dies the next day or the next night.

 

[ajkry2]

viewtopic.php?f=76&t=117161&hilit=

 

[DragonsInKansas]

When you first start to notice the dead ones you really need to get them out of there. The dead crickets give off gases that kill the other crickets pretty quickly. Beyond that the above comment is correct, make sure you have plenty of cardboard in there so they aren't on top of each other.

The change i made to my cricket practices that made the most difference is the water gel. I've found that potatos just don't cut it. Gel water is the best, and it's cheapest to buy it in dry crystals and make your own.

AND don't buy petstore crickets!

 

[CrashBandicoot]

what i do is if that is happening, then i get all the crickets out and just completely clean the cage, that seems to work very well, I put an egg carton in there and put new cricket food and cricket water. If you ask the petstore, they normally have extra egg carton pieces. I also recommend a heat source since the temperatures can get pretty low at night - i use a heat pad right underneath the egg carton --- hope it helps!

 

[punkrockprincess]

If you ask the petstore, they normally have extra egg carton pieces.

Confession: I work at PetSmart at a Petcare Specialist (please refrain from throwing sharp objects at me..I know PS isn't the best in the world lol but I need the experience and money it gives me before I head off to Vet school next year). Any store should have more than enough eggcartons because every shipment of crickets comes with a TON of them you would seriously be doing any PS store a favor if you asked for some of their leftover egg cartons!

 

[carmdac]

pagona! what size crix are you getting? the bigger and older the shorter the life span. I average 2-3 weeks w/ both my 1/4 & 1/2" crix.